Charges unlikely in Torrington 5-car crash on Winsted Road

Two buses and three other vehicles were involved in a crash on Winsted Road in Torrington Tuesday. Several children were taken to the hospital as a precaution, but officials at the scene said none were seriously injured.
Laurie Gaboardi — The Register Citizen

Two buses and three other vehicles were involved in a crash on Winsted Road in Torrington Tuesday. Several children were taken to the hospital as a precaution, but officials at the scene said none were seriously injured.
Laurie Gaboardi — The Register Citizen

TORRINGTON >> A driver of a pickup truck who police say caused a chain reaction accident involving two buses on Tuesday is unlikely to face charges after an initial investigation determined the man likely suffered a seizure on the way home from his work on Commercial Boulevard.

The five-car pileup occurred around 3:45 p.m. when Keith Strubbe, 52, of Oxford, lost consciousness while motoring down Kennedy Drive and rear-ended a silver Jeep stopped behind two buses at the intersection of Winsted Road.

Impact from the collision sent the Jeep hurtling into a KinderCare bus, which collided with an All-Star Transportation bus.

The driver of the jeep, Holly Fleming, 40, of Torrington, was flown by a Life Star helicopter to Hartford Hospital with what police described as serious injuries, but she was treated and released the same day.

A Volvo driven by a 17-year-old girl carrying four passengers was also struck at some point during the wreck, police said.

A total of 22 preschool and elementary students were aboard buses, some of whom were from Torringford School.

Students were transported to Charlotte Hungerford Hospital as a precaution and released the same day, police said.

Speed is believed to be a factor in the crash, but police said a preliminary accident investigation hasn’t determined how fast Strubbe was traveling in his green Ford pickup when he collided with the Jeep Cherokee.

Strubbe suffered a broken sternum and was still recuperating Thursday at Charlotte Hungerford Hospital. A hospital spokesman said he is expected to be released soon.

Investigators with the police department’s accident investigation team are still determining if the man had a pre-existing medical condition and whether he was taking medications which could have triggered or contributed to the crash, Sgt. Linas Venclauskas said.

Police are “actively seeking” to determine whether Strubbe was prescribed medications expressly instructing him not to operate a motor vehicle, Venclauskas said. No evidence points to that so far, police said, and they expect to get permission to inspect the man’s medical records.

Strubbe didn’t have restrictions on a state-issued license, and evidence points to an unexpected medical emergency.

“It’s the same if somebody had a couple heart attacks,” Venclauskas said. “You don’t know when it’s going to happen.”

Strubbe had left work minutes before he blacked out and collided with the Jeep. He has no recollection of the crash and has cooperated with authorities trying to piece together the accident, Venclauskas said.

“We don’t know if the seizure made him push the accelerator,” he said.

The force with which the pickup hit the Jeep left it “demolished,” its front end severely smashed in, Venclauskas said. Somehow, the Jeep lurched up onto a guard rail, an undercarriage the only thing keeping it from tipping over. Debris was strewn along the highway.

“I’m thinking if [Fleming] wasn’t there it would have probably been a different outcome,” he said.

Police spent nearly five hours on scene mapping the accident with a laser, diagramming it and collecting evidence before towing the five vehicles to an impound lot, Venclauskas said.

The investigation is still open and Venclauskas couldn’t say when police will wrap it up. Police are expected to cite the 17-year-old driver of the Volvo, who couldn’t legally carry passengers because of license restrictions, Venclauskas said. Her driving privileges could be revoked by the Department of Motor Vehicles, police said.